A War That Never Changed
by Avis B
Summary: A RWBY Collaboration Story By Quake Shatterfist and Avis B. Set in the distant future of the RWBY-Verse, new Huntsmen and Huntresses gather far and wide to attend the Atlas Academy. They heard the call to fight back against the Grimm threat, and even those who wish to cause chaos. - On Hiatus-
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Rouge Frost**

Ever since the fall of beacon and the events that followed soon after, the world of Remnant has changed. The environment itself has gotten harsher and with ever expanding range of Grimm that plague the land. The huntsmen and huntresses are needed now more than ever. With the changing environments and the countless hordes of monsters that threaten the survival of the citizens of Remnant.

The academies have changed their policies to ensure the huntsmen and huntresses that are trained there, are to the highest standard before venturing off into the real world. However with times as they are, there is a lot of tension between the kingdoms and between themselves. The White Fang has gained more traction over the generations since the fall of beacon. To the point of separating themselves from their Faunus kin who don't believe in their methods.

The world is slowly tearing itself apart and many believe another great war between the kingdoms will happen, especially with destruction of Menagerie by the White Fang's hands forcing their brethren to take back what was originally theirs and not accept any fail attempts at unity that the humans may offer. However a fair amount of Faunus still want to live in peace with the rest of the world. Saying that all the kingdoms still have their fair share of internal conflict, Vale, Vacuo, Mistral and especially Atlas.

Atlas is still and will always be known for their technological and military superiority, however a line has started to form within the citizens crazy enough to survive in the frozen tundra that is Solitas. The social class standings is starting to put a wedge between the people of Atlas. The nobles families and any family with strong military ties are constantly making sure that anyone without that social standing are constantly reminded of their place.

A common place where these forms of conflict occurs is in Atlas Academy, especially amongst the first years that attend. Atlas Academy is one of the few places in Atlas where social standings has no effect. The only thing that matters is the Academy's internal ranking. The higher the rank one team gets, the greater opportunity they have to receive assignments that benefit the Academy as well as Atlas herself.

A young man who stood at a height of 5 foot 11 inches, with icy blue eyes that seemed to be daydreaming as he walked through the grounds of the Atlas Academy. His messy dark brown tousled hair had been blown about from the cold wind that came through the mountain range where the academy was built. However the temperature didn't seem to faze him due to the clothes he wore protecting his fair skin from the weather.

His attire starting from top to bottom consisted of a white tight compression shirt that formed over his upper, outlining some of his slightly defined body. On the right side of his shirt, over his right pec was his emblem that consisted of a black shape similar to his shield with a white feather top of it. Over the top of his shirt he wears a black leather jacket that almost looked like it came out from the classics, but with his emblem on the right upper arm of the jacket but the colours inverted.

The lower section of his attire consisted of a pair of white cargo pants that were held up by a black leather belt with a dull silver buckle. Around the sides of his belt where two pouches that he could store additional ammunition or other supplies if he chose to. On his feet are a pair of black capped boots that feel like he was wearing a pair of sneakers.

Although he did carry his weapon which was a shield that had a mixed look of a heater and kite shield but instead of curved edges, it had straight and true edges to the point of the shield. looked like a smaller version of itself when collapsed into portable form.

The underside of the shield held a long square tube which houses the barrel for his launcher that fires grenades at high speeds. The grenades that are used are cylindrical in shape and made specially for the weapon, which gives him much creativity when deciding on which grenades to use. They are loaded into a magazine size of four grenades each, and he seems to be carrying three spare while one is already loaded. The weapon's trigger has been heavily modified to act as a handle for the shield, although there is a button where his thumb could reach too.

The young man continued walking, paying no attention to a noblish looking human student that looked like he was having a one way insulting match to a less unfortunate Faunus student who must have been unlucky to be near him.

"You should learn your place you filthy peasant" The young nobleman said loudly to a Faunus student who looked like to be a first year student too.

As the noble continued to run his mouth at the unfortunate Faunus student, the young man let out a small sigh. He continued on his way, ever so slightly deviating towards the noble. As he passed by, the young man gave the noble the slightest nudge that just happened to have enough force to knock the noble into a mound of snow nearby which was removed from the walkways.

The noble quickly got to his feet, dusting himself in the process. He was trembling with rage because of that young man. " _Unacceptable... this is truly unacceptable... First off some lower class rat had the audacity to tarnish my shoes... Now this... my clothes are ruined because of that scum…. I will make these common filth remember their rightful place."_ The nobleman thought while drawing his rapier from its sheath.

The nobleman stood 5 foot 7 inches tall with medium length blonde hair that was slicked until the collision. His outfit consisted of a white suit with silver pinstriping, gold embroidery and trimming. A gold coloured formal shirt underneath his jacket, a pair of pants that matched the suit jackets design. Made from the finest materials however due the collision they were crumpled and slightly stained.

On his feet he a pair of black leather shoes that also had an unsightly footprint embedded on it. Over his left shoulder sat a brown cloak with an gold underside, gold embroidery and trimming with his family crest right in the middle. His green eyes glaring intensely at the young man "How dare you filthy low class peasant scum" he shouted.

However the young man paid no attention to the shouting nobleman, he just simply wandered over to the Faunus who received a solid backhand from the noble prior to the yelling. The young man offered the Faunus a hand with his back facing the nobleman which enrage the nobleman even more.

The nobleman gripped his rapier tightly as he shouted "SUCH INSOLENCE…. DON'T YOU WHO I AM! I'M CEDRIC MARIGOLD, WITH A SINGLE WORD I…. WILL…. MAKE…. YOUR LIVES A LIVING HELL" as thrust his rapier towards the unprotected back of the young man.

However Cedric's attack was deflected by another person who seemed to appear out of thin air. This new person only stood 5 foot 1, wearing red hooded jacket with a white trenchcoat over the top. Both undone revealing a black shirt with 2 white diagonal lines, his trenchcoat contained silver embroidery and trimmings. He also had his hood up which obscured his face with some his crimson hair still being visible.

Around his neck sat a red scarf that matched his hooded jacket and a necklace with a pendant made from quartz attached to it. On his back was a holster that contained 2 curved swords and attached to his belt was an quiver mounted horizontally against his lower back, full of arrows. With a pair of black cargo pants that rested over his brown steel plated combat boots to round out his look. He also wore a pair fingerless gloves and had some climbing equipment holstered to his belt.

He stood there with grin on his face, holding an climbing pick in his right hand which he used to deflect Cedric's blow. "Foolish little daddy's boy, clearly he does not know the way in land…." he mocks with a long drawn out sigh. "To think some one of his so called stature would have been raised better, I guess the only rival his ego is his own stupidity" the crimson haired man added in condescending tone.

The crimson haired man glanced over his shoulder at the young man who help the Faunus student get back on their feet. "You alright there giant?" he asks while Cedric sieves with rage, trying to untangle his weapon from the crimson hairs climbing pick.

"Yeah I am…. Heh guess I owe you one now" the young man says as his attention is taken by a straight rumbling sensation. As the sensation grew, he could hear footprints which each step taken, the sounded more the rumbling of thunder.

"HOW…. DARE…." A brute of man broke through the wall of students watching this event happen, running over anyone in his way "YOU…. TREAT…." he shouts, armed with an giant warhammer, running as fast as he can. "THE YOUNG MASTER WITH SUCH DISDAIN!" he yells as he comes to stop with in hitting range of the crimson haired man. Using the momentum he gathered, he swung that warhammer with such a force, the shockwave knocked some of the people watching of their feet.

The crimson haired man could only watch as head of the warhammer got closer, it was moving at such a speed that he knew he couldn't avoid it, all he could do was watch. Such a blow would surely drain his aura and break a fair amount of his bones. Within a second the view of the warhammer vanished behind the shield of the young man. The sound from the 2 weapons clashing rang loudly to the point of shattering all the windows in the vicinity.

After the sound dissipated and everyone could hear again, the young man had a big grin on his face as he looked at the man with the crimson hair "Looks like we are even now"

The crimson haired man could only looked slightly surprised at the how effortlessly he stopped the warhammer before a grin was plastered on his face "Sure, The names Van" he replied back to the shield wielding teen who just save him from world of hurt.

"Dust…" The shield teen returned the gesture still holding his shield against the warhammer with ease "Shall we break loose and teach these guys a thing or two?" he added as he pushed against the brute's hammer forcing him back a few steps beside Cedric.

"Wha? H - How did you?" The brute said in confusion as Van smirked as he got ready with his climbing pick alongside Dust who were ready to combat the two noble teens that started the fight. This had lead to Cedric gripping his rapier tighter in his hand.

"You insolent lower class filth!" Cedric was now starting to be heated up by Van and Dust, at how they defy him. "Brutus let us show what happens when filth defy us" he said to the brute, clearly friends or maybe a servant to Cedric.

Brutus gave a nod as he readied his giant warhammer, keen to break through the shield that Dust wielded "I would be glad too Young Master" he replied to Cedric.

Cedric moved first as he went after Van thrusting his rapier at his chest, intended to make quick work of him, but that did not go to plan as Van moved his climbing pick in a small arc catch the rapier's blade pulling it to one side away from his body. "Telegraphed... " Van said in a taunting manner.

Cedric sent another flurry of thrusts, each being parried with Van's climbing pick. "This is boring…" Van said to himself as he spun around one thrust that Cedric had committed to, swing his climbing pick straight up against the rapiers hand guard forcing the weapon out from the wielder's hand.

Cedric looked stunned as a commoner had bested him, a nobleman who was trained by one of the best teachers that his father could buy. While Cedric was having an internal monolog with himself, Van looked over to see how Dust was doing.

Dust was fighting against Brutus who was swinging his warhammer around like a madman, in attempts to crush the little pest in front of him. Which each swing, a shock wave was created from the sheer mass of the weapon, colliding into any poor soul within proximity of the fight. However the shield wielder just effortly sidestepped, hopped and jumped over the warhammer as it swung through, even carrying his shield to boot. "Stop moving, you little, pest!" Brutus roared as he went for an overhead swing aiming for Dust.

Dust could not help but to smiled as he held his shield on an angle for the strike from the warhammer, sending it off to the side of himself into the ground cracking the reinforced pathment. Taking this chance Dust kicked the handle out of Brutus's grip before pushing him back with his shield, to gain some distance as he was getting ready to charge at the Brute. Brutus was aiming to do the same and charge back at Dust, but before anyone could move an echoing voice was heard right before a sound of many marching mechanical feet.

"Enough!" a voice boomed across the academy grounds, belonging to a professor of the academy. He could be made out to be one as there was a name badge on his suit jacket that stated his name as 'Professor Raftsman'. The marching was heard where the Atlesian Knight 200's that accompanied him, armed with rifles ready to neutralize any threats that would cause a disruption the student body.

"Stand down and stow your weapons. Failure to do so will be met with force" Professor Raftsman ordered, as the Atlesian Knight 200's took aim at the four students. Dust and Van gave each other a nod as collapsed their weapons, putting back in their respective spots as Cedric and Brutus did the same with theirs.

The Atlesian Knight 200's lowered their rifles, before continuing to march after Professor Raftsman as he lead the way between the two sets of teens "I will overlook this incident as it is your first day here to this academy, but don't fight unless sanctioned by the professors or the authorized personal. Carry on" Professor Raftsman said to the four students before leading his small squad of mechanical soldiers away.

Cedric quickly grabbed his rapier followed by Brutus who took his warhammer from the ground quickly collapsing them into their more compact form for travel and convenience. "Don't think this is the end you low class filth!" Cedric stated as he rushed off to the academy building knowing that he was almost in trouble by the professor. Brutus had followed Cedric's lead, but not before giving Dust an intimidating stare.

Dust just shook his head at the brutes actions as he turned to Van his hand out to him "Nice to meet you" He said to Van as other students started to look at the pair questionly as what just happened.

"The pleasure is mine, Dust" Van replied as he took Dust's hand into his own giving him a firm shake. As the students started to make their way to the academy building for the new year's speech given by the Headmaster.

Meanwhile in one of the Academy's tower like buildings. The Headmaster was with some other professors besides Raftsman, looking on at the display of school yard fight. "Why did Raftsman not punish those students, they need to be taught about the rules of this academy" One professor who was tall and skinny said with much distaste to what the four students had done.

"They are not students of this Academy yet, so they are not in the wrong. They don't know the rules yet, and to be fair the nobles started the fight" A female professor this time smaller than the last one made her point noted.

The skinny professor only gave a unsettling 'humph' as the Headmaster looked at the Van and Dust as they both started to make their way respectfully to the same building that the he was in "Without a doubt we have some interesting freshman this year. I must be off to greet all of the students this year" the Headmaster said to his other professors as he left the room closing the door with the plaque reading 'Headmaster Stirling'.

Soon enough Dust and Van had entered the first tower of the Academy, being guided by staff towards a grand hall where it looked like all the students were gathering. As the freshmen entered the hall, the eyes of current student body focus on the freshmen from the viewing platforms that make up the upper floors of the building. Those students start to discuss amongst themselves at the view of the people standing below.

Right at the very end of the hall, on the second floor balcony. An male figure appears, dressed in white suit befitting of a military general. Standing 6'4" with a rather muscular build. Medium length grey hair that's parted in the middle and a neat trimmed beard. This man has a black eye patch that covers the majority of the right side of his face. His hands were covered up with white gloves that matched his attire.

Looking over the student body of his academy with his green coloured eye. Headmaster Stirling raises his fists into the air and slams them down hard onto the railing, bending them in the process. The crash echoed throughout the hall that sounded almost metallic in nature. With an booming voice that followed soon after, "QQQQUUUUUIIIIIEEEEEETTTTTT!".

Once their ears stopped ringing, all the students were now focused on the Headmaster. "You have travel far to reach this point in life, some further than most. You stand here because you all have heard the call. A need for Huntsmen and Huntresses, Remnant is not like the stories of old, it has changed. The need for Huntsmen and Huntresses is greater than it's ever been before. You stand in these very halls because you have the desire to fulfill this requirement life has place….

Now I will be frank with you all, the path you all have chosen to take, is not an easy one. Many will fall, most will fail, if you cannot survive this academy, then you have no chance at becoming a Huntsman or Huntress that you so desire. This is Atlas Academy, we only train the finest, we welcome you to take this challenge as we forge the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses."

Even though Headmaster's was short and brief, his words seemed to have left an impact on the new students as applauses from the students on the higher floors echo throughout the building. Amplifying the impression the Headmaster left from his speech.

* * *

Hello Everyone,

This is Quake and Avis here to present a collaboration story in the RWBY-Verse Fandom. We both have put off some projects, due to our busy lives, and stupendous writers block that had plagued both of us when we tried to gain some ideas for this project.

We thought of this idea a while ago, and we could not put it together until we were sold on the idea together before moving forward. Now that we have some agreement on this idea, and setting we have started this collaboration story.

We both have similar writing styles, but we like to go through this thoroughly so it does not sound like two separate stories in one. This helps bring a smoother story flow, hopefully that it will not confuse the reader. So this project will be a lengthy process for each chapter, as the two of us learn how to optimise are work together.

After all this, we (Quake and Avis) would like to open up this story for those who would like to join are adventure. We have a Character Sheet under the RWBY forums, that who are interested in joining can fill out. The reason this is in the RWBY forum is to allow people the ability to Copy & Paste the Character Sheet to work on.

We will post our (Quake and Avis) characters in the forum for those to see. We hope that you will find this adventure fun to read, and hope that you like what will do next.

Quake & Avis.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone,

Quake and Avis here to present chapter two of the adventure, and I want to say thank you for all the submissions. This is going to be a fun time with our adventure into later chapters. I would like to thank WhichOneIsWill for helping us out, awesome job man!

We will introduce characters in the chapters that are to come.

* * *

 **Chapter Two: The Test Part One**

The headmaster was done with his short but brief speech to all the students that are applauding him from in front of the stage as he made his leave. As the Headmaster left, another professor made their way onto the center stage. This professor looked to be shorter than the headmaster, with average curves that were hidden under her clothes - which consisted of a collared shirt under a suit jacket, a pair of suit pants and dress shoes.

Her long chestnut brown hair was tied up into a bun at the back of her head, with her hazel eyes looking at all the new faces that were in the hall this year. "I am Professor Acqua, and I am in charge of all combat related classes, as well as your gauntlet trial instructor."

She then detailed, "All of the first year student will sleep in the hall tonight, as you are not in teams as of the moment. Tomorrow will be the day you will be selected into teams, but only after going through my gauntlet of pai… I mean of trials," Acqua corrected to herself, trying to not scare the first year students with her torture run test.

"Now you all are dismissed and free to do what you like until tomorrow," Professor Acqua said to all the students with a booming voice, before she left the stage from all the students that have attended the speech. This lead to a rush of students out of the hall while most of the first years were trying to figure out what to do next.

"This day just keeps getting worse... First that stupid faunus scum had the audacity to disgrace me with their filthy presence…. Then that whole infuriating mockery with those 2 lowlives. I will make them suffer for the disgrace they have shown me…. A thousand fold," Cedric says to himself, finding himself getting more infuriated with every word utter while he waits for Brutus to return.

"To make matters worse... They expect someone of my stature to live with these common rats for the next week or so…. They are just as bad as those filthy Faunus…. Disgusting creatures should be locked up on display," he adds as he fails to notice a person approach him, this person was clearly female, standing 5'7" with a curvaceous figure.

Dressed in a gray t-shirt, black fingerless gloves, black pants and shoes, along with a bell around her neck. On top of that she wore a long black hooded coat, the hood was up, obstructing the vision of her short grey hair. However, the horizontal scar that across the bridge of her nose and ending underneath both her eyes could be clearly seen. As her crimson eyes locked onto Cedric, she asked,"Excuse me?" Her voice was trembling, struggling to control the anger she felt from those man's words.

"Oh great… what now," Cedric scoffs, turning to the woman in front of him who was clenching her fist hard.

"What did you say about Faunus?" the woman says, her voice no longer hiding her rage.

"Huh… those filthy disgusting creatures?…. What does it matter to you?... Oh wait…." Cedric starts to laugh "Don't tell me….You actually care about those 'things'... This is hilarious!" His laughter grows louder and louder, drawing the focus of the surrounding students.

The woman's eyes twitch as she clenches her right hand even tighter as she raises her hand, ready to strike him in his face. "SHUT UP!" she screams as she launches her fist at Cedric. However what she felt when she connected was strange, it wasn't hard; in fact it was soft, like punching a pillow.

Her eyes opened wide in shock, as right in front of her stood Van. That man with crimson red hair was holding futon rolled tightly, leaning against his shoulder obstructing her punch. In the other hand was a bag full of clothing which he used to knock Cedric away. "Geez… Can't you do anything without causing a scene?" he mocks, eyes focused on the noble who was speechless.

" _What the…. Where did he come from?"_ the girl thought as Cedric got to his feet, it looked like a vein was going to burst in his forehead from the anger he felt at the sight of Van.

However before Cedric could act, Van spoke in a tone that resembled the Professor that stopped their fight earlier. "Fighting is forbidden unless sanctioned by the professors or the authorized personal…. Sound familiar?".

Cedric struggled to find an response until he noticed Dust come into his line of sight. With Brutus nowhere to be found, Cedric just storms off leaving Van and the woman alone. Letting a sigh of relief go, Van turns to face the woman who has been focused on him since he had appeared. "Phew… I thought he would make another scene like before…. The names Van… You alright?" he adds with a smile.

"I'm fine…." She replies back, turning away with her arms crossed as she sees those midnight blue eyes of his glow an eerie white for a split second. "I didn't need your help, nor did I ask for it," she snarls.

"True… as satisfying it would have been to see him get what he deserves…. I think today has had enough drama for one day," he yawned. The girl just continues to stare at him, making sure he wouldn't pull that appearing trick again on her. "You know…. It's only polite to say one's name when someone says theirs."

"It's…. Gray…." She replies softly and quietly, clearly shocked about how Van is speaking to her.

"Umm… sorry I didn't catch that" Van calmly replies as he notices Dust get closer.

"I SAID NOTHING!" she snaps back, which causes Dust to laugh as he greets Van.

Noticing Gray tense up and try to slowly back up at the sight of Dust, Van chuckles a bit. "The giant here is Dust, and don't worry, he is harmless…. Well, I think he is…." As Van introduce him, Dust gives a slight bow. His friendly gesture helps a tiny bit until Van speaks again. "Dust, this is Gray…. She seems a bit troubled, so help her out when you can…. Won't ya, big guy?"

Hearing what Van said about her, Gray tensed up even more. Dark thoughts race her mind about what he said. "What makes you think I'm troubled?" she snaps back, clearly on edge.

Van laughs a bit while looking up at the ceiling. "Let's say…. a hunch".

"A hunch, huh?" Gray felt her anger raise once more. She was about to unleash an onslaught of verbal lashings about him assuming that he knows her. However, before she could, Gray heard a heartfelt chuckle coming from behind her. Turning around, she saw a familiar sight: Headmaster Stirling standing there with a big grin on his face.

"Headmaster!" she says cheerfully, which leaves a puzzled look on Van's face.

"Wow… Colour me surprised,,,, She can do cheerful," Van says as Gray just glares at him while both Dust and Stirling laugh.

"It's good to see you have made some friends there, Gray" Stirling says, which sounds like something a proud father would say.

"They are NOT my friends," she replies, her cheeks slightly red as she puts a lot of emphasis on the word 'not'.

"Ok, ok… I get the picture," Dust says with a slight chuckle. "Let's go Van, we still need to claim a good spot to sleep…. See you around Gray," he adds with a big grin on his face.

As those 2 leave, Stirling faces Gray. "With friends like that… I don't have to worry as much," he says, words full of comfort and kindness. "So what are your new friend's names?"

"The big guy is Dust and the small one is Van… wait…. they are NOT my friends!" she says, like a child who has been caught red handed stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. The way Gray is reacting whenever Stirling refers to them as her friends, just makes him even happier.

"Dust and Van… huh…. could they be?" Stirling says as he strokes his beard while thinking. Gray looks at him with a puzzled expression. "Ah… you, my dear, do keep some rather interesting friends"

"How many times do I have to say they aren't…. huh, what do you mean Headmaster?" she inquires.

"Well, the big guy. Dust Frost. He is a representative of a clan located in the mountain regions of Solitas, they are tight knit community full of traditions and are rarely seen outside their clan lands," Stirling says as he tries to recall information about the other one.

"As for the small one, Van Rouge…. well, he is a mystery just like the inner workings of Dust's clan. According to the records, Van Rouge has only existed for 2 years; there is no information about him prior to those 2 years. However, he managed to receive a strong recommendation from an well known huntsmen lodge," Stirling states. Gray turns her focus to the two they are talking about as they fade into the crowd.

Meanwhile, a young human noble-looking girl standing at approximately 6 feet tall, with an additional three inches thanks to her choice in wearing thick heeled shoes. She has very curvy hourglass body having a double D bust size, a thin waist, and a large heart shaped rear to match.

She has fair peach skin with a heart shaped mole on her right cheek right by her right eye, which is bright sky blue in colour. She has long, curly blonde hair that comes down to the small of her back. She wears makeup which looked simple, but elegant for what she was wearing: a light use of eyeliner and mascara, with some pink lip gloss to finish up with.

Her clothing consisting of modernized Victorian style dress that comes to her knees and has a black base, with silver rose designs on the skirt and diamonds twinkling throughout by the light shining on them. The sleeves of her dress are made from a fishnet design that hooks over her middle finger, each having a silver ring with a diamond on it - identical to the leggings going into her heeled boots. Both boots sport silver roses on the the toes with a diamond in the center of the roses.

She was being referred to by another young human female as 'Hylia' or 'Ma'am'. This person seemed to be like a servant of Hylia's of some sort. She is very small, only standing at 5 feet tall. She has a slight figure with a modest bust side but it is hard to see given she was wearing a plain light brown turtleneck sweater and a dark brown knee length skirt with basic brown flats. Her hair is shoulder length, wavy, and dark brown matching her dark brown eyes, which are normally hidden behind her thick rimmed glasses. She was also carrying a small stack of books in her arms.

"So there was this mysterious guy, and he seemed so calm, and…" Hylia spoke before she caught herself about to rant on about a boy she had only seen from afar. When her friend handed her a carbonated beverage, she paused to say, "Thank you, Jen."

Jennifer gave a nod as Hylia returned talking to two seniors of the Academy - well, a year above them, anyway. "So this guy stopped that one noble I was talking about with nothing but an climbing pick, isn't it amazing?" Hylia told the two female second years.

"Thats nice and all, but we have interests to see how our little cousin does in a fight," one of the two girls said as turned to her sibling. "Hopefully she would find a guy to break her out her shell?" she asked.

"I agree with that, she has so much energy pent up inside that she needs to find an alternative release than beating the living crap out of racists," the sibling replied back, making Jennifer go a little red at an alternative meaning to what they said.

Hylia looked puzzled as she look at the two in front of her. "You have a younger cousin?" she said, causing the two older girls to giggle.

"Yes, we have a little cousin that we love ever so dearly, but we wish that she could settle down for a bit every now again," one of the sisters said, with the other having a hand on her chin, thinking.

"Maybe some guy needs to sweep her off her feet and take her away?" the sibling added before there was silence. The two sisters started to laugh.

"I don't think that will happen, sis," the first sibling said before looking over to Hylia and Jennifer "It was nice to meet you both, but we have to get going to our dorm and prepare for tomorrow's spectacle. We will be watching you perform the gauntlet," she added before walking off with her sister to their dorm.

Hylia remembered that she needed to find a spot to sleep, so she will be in perfect form for that gauntlet run the next day, maybe to impress a certain boy she had eyes on. "Let's go Jennifer, we have to go find a perfect spot for ourselves to get a good night's rest," Hylia said to her friend, before walking off with her to the hall that all of the first years are going to spend the night.

Later on, as the moon was high in the night's sky, Van had returned from using the academy facilities that the first years undergoing the gauntlet have access to. "Man, it's good to have shower... the facilities here aren't that bad". His crimson hair was still damp from the shower, as a towel rested across his shoulders. "Hey Dust, did you figure anything out this so called Gauntlet everyone has been talking about?"

Dust shakes his head, as Van finishes off drying his hair. "Everyone I've spoke too didn't have a clue about it. Some have spoken to professors, and have found no luck there," Dust replies while starting to rummage through his bag. Both Dust and Van had found a rather good spot to sleep and they figured while one went for a shower, the other would man the fort.

As Van slowly removed the towel from his head, a certain blonde from across the room caught his eye. When she noticed him looking back, she quickly turned her focus elsewhere. Van couldn't help but smile since Dust was clearly in her line of sight. "Hey Dust, I think you have a fan…. A pretty cute one in fact" he says while collapsing onto his futon.

"Yeah?..." Dust replies as he stands up, slinging a bag over his shoulder in the process. "Which one?" he adds, noticing some people scattered across the room, eyeing him off

"The blonde…. Over there…." Van lazily points, not even bothering to sit up.

"Huh…. she must have moved…. Hey Van don't you get the feeling that everyone is…. I don't know…. Sizing us up?" Dust said as he had a brief look at some people of his surrounding as every scroll in the room light up from receiving a message.

"Well considering what happened earlier today, I wouldn't be surprised," Van replies. He notices his scroll flashing, and fought to reach it from his comfortable position. After a couple failed swipes at it, he manages to knock it closer to for him to grab. "Huh…. 3:30pm…. What the?... Hey, Dust, did you get a message just then?"

"Yeah I did, mine says 9am…. And there is a map…. I guess it's about the Gauntlet," Dust said as he started to head off to the showers. "Your turn to man the fort, bud," he added as he left to have a shower.

Van just looks at his scroll, then sighs at Dust's departure. "I guess there is only one way to find out…. Huh…."

Meanwhile as Dust walked through the hall towards the door that lead to the shower facilities, he went past a group of students who all looked similar to each other, as if they were quadruplets.

"Mmmm, mama like," one of the two female redheads of the group said with a smirk as her brown eyes eyed Dust walking by, not bothering to keep her thoughts quiet to the others of her group. She was laying down on her sleeping bag in her sleep wear, which consisted a casual white t-shirt and black yoga shorts, that didn't hide her tanned body.

If she was standing she would be about five foot and seven inches, and you could see two withered roses that must be tattooed on either side of her cheeks. She also had three scars running vertically down her face, like she was clawed by a Beowulf or something of the sorts although that did not falter her beauty.

"Stizza, really? Not even one night, and you want to jump into someone's pants?" came a voice next to the lounging girl.

"Oh don't be like that Falu. It's not my fault that I get to have 'fun'," Stizza replied back to the person next to her.

Falu would have been five foot and six inches if she was standing, but she was currently seated on top of her sleeping bag cross legged. Her left side of her face have remnants of burn scars that have been healed over the years.

She flicked her red hair, which was tied into a ponytail that would normally reached down to her shoulders, as her brown eyes inspected the guy her sister was looking at. "You have some interesting tastes, is all I can say," Falu spoke to her sister, as she started to lay down on her own sleeping bag.

"I don't mock your choices, lady killer" Stizza replied back to Falu with a smirk on her face, knowing her sisters romantic preference.

This had no effect on Falu, as she was already use to Stizza's jabs at trying to get under her skin. That is until she heard a comment from her, "We can double team him?" This made Falu's face flush.

"You know I don't swing that way!" Falu fired back to her sister who was laughing, but this caused a couple of grunts to come from one of the males laying in his sleeping bag across from the two girls.

He laid out to be five foot seven inches, although he is sleeping his red hair was remained slicked back. His mustache as well was not furred or disturbed as he rolled over to face away from the two talking girls in their group.

"Munsell said to keep it down," the last person of the group said to Stizza and Falu, as he laid stiff as rock in his sleeping bag. It was only natural as he laid like that since he had a body like a gigantic block of muscle. His goatee, and buzz cut hair that has a faint sign of red from being so short, matched his looked perfectly.

"Alright, alright, I get it Coquelicot. Time for bed," Stizza replied with a pout as she laid down on top of her sleeping bag, with Falu following suit. The next day would be tiring so the best thing would be to rest as much as they can.

The following morning the giant stadium that was near the two building of Atlas Academy was beaming with students from second year to fourth year as they filled little of the many seats that the stadium had.

On the primary screen that was displayed above the field that usually had a plain rocky earth terrain, was replaced with a long strip of varying obstacles. The students who were watching had called it Professor Acqua's 'Wipeout Course'. It consisted of a long corridor of pits, bars, rope swings, moving obstacles and much more of the like. The purpose of this course was to pit the first year students through the course, and assess their abilities before deciding the team composition.

The Headmaster had looked at the Gauntlet with a smile, seeing the familiar sight before turning to Professor Acqua. "I take it everything is set to go?" he asked his fellow co worker.

Acqua turned to Headmaster Stirling, giving him a nod. "Yes, everything is ready as previous years', sir," she confirmed. This caused Headmaster Stirling to smile.

"Good, I have a special something for a certain participant," Headmaster Stirling replied, holding a device in his pants pocket and waiting for the certain participant to start their run. He looked at the side of the arena that had start line displayed above the large double doors.

At the time listed in the message, Dust stood facing the large metal double doors that would soon open. "Student Trial….. First Round…. Dust Frost, prepare yourself….." Acqua said from the speakers in the room he is currently standing. This caused the students watching to be interested in the first student to run the gauntlet.

"3… " The countdown starts as Dust gets into a crouched position. "Yes, yes, I know," Dust said to himself, like he was talking to someone. He placed his eyeshield over his eyes, like someone would with sunglasses.

"2…." With deep breaths, Dust felt a surge of power course through his body. Like something deep inside him was trying to awaken, his aura started to seep slightly from his body, the pale blue colour fading quickly. "Would you quit it…" he said, sounding annoyed at someone.

"1… " The countdown had almost finished. Strange noises started to echo from behind the metal door, like the entire place was shifting. "If it becomes a battle against those robots, I'll let you have 'some' fun. " Dust was still speaking like he was talking to someone.

"GO!" the speaker blared into the stadium, with all the lights turning green in the room, as the door opens with a blinding light. Letting Dust free to run into the light, into a test that was surely going to surprise many.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again everyone!**

 **Avis and Quake here again to present to you Chapter Three! We have introduced a few more characters, in this mass of words. Don't worry the rest of the cast will be introduced in the next exciting chapter. Also would like to thank WhichOneIsWill for being are proofreader, awesome work dude.**

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 **Chapter Three: The Test Part Two**

"GO!" the speaker blared into the stadium, with all the lights turning green in the room as the door opens with a blinding light. Dust was free to run into the light, into the test that was awaiting him.

"What the!?" Dust was surprised as he was met with a vertical metal wall right off the bat, as he skidded to a stop along the dirt floor. This wall had small grooves, and bulges to assist the participant in scaling up and over it.

"Okay then, up we go!" Dust said as he bent down, his pale blue aura leaving a slight trail as he jumped. He had jumped a height just over 15 feet before grasping the edge of the metal wall with his hand. After pulling himself up effortlessly he stood on top of the metal wall, and that's when he saw the Gauntlet.

The Gauntlet a two hundred meter course that had pitfalls, rope swings, monkey bars, balance beams, rotating metal beams that you had to maneuver though, and much more weird obstacles than can be imagined.

"What kind of gauntlet is this?" Dust had said to himself as he shook his head slightly. "No, this is no joke" he said again to no one that was near him.

Dust was about to jump off the wall when suddenly Acqua's voice was heard over the loudspeaker of the stadium. Mechanical noises could be heard as all the obstacles slowly, descended into the dirt ground before him.

This caught the attention of all the students in the stadium, as this had never happened before during their time at the school. Dust balanced on the top of the wall, until it was close enough to the ground for him to simply step off it. He waited for an explanation on what to do next since the gauntlet had been put away.

"Ahem," came the voice of the Headmaster over the loudspeaker. "I wanted to make a special test for you, Mr Frost," he continued, making Dust look around for anything out of the ordinary.

Meanwhile Headmaster Raftsman had pushed one of the many buttons on the device he was holding in his pants pocket. After doing so, one of the many floor panels in the dirt had opened with mechanical sounds coming from it.

"So your test will be to fight against these modified Atlesian Knights. Defeat these machines, and prove to us what you are made of," the headmaster said. Now, what stood before Dust was two small, nimble Atlesian Knight machines in front of a larger Paladin.

"To reaffirm: this test is something special, and the other students will be participating in the gauntlet run, unless something catastrophic happens to it," the headmaster told the students who were waiting for their time for their run. "In the case that the Gauntlet is damaged, training drones will be your replacements. Three waves of five drones each will be your test."

This gave a smile to the first year students, who did not want to embarrass themselves in the weird Gauntlet. One particular student was happy that she would be able to fight something instead of running. She has a voluptuous body with all the curves in the right places and large set of assets that would make many girls cry with jealousy. She has long, wavy golden hair, with golden lion ears set atop of her head, amber eyes, and a pale complexion. She stands at about five feet and seven inches. Her clothing consists of a standard style green crop top, brown shorts, and brown leather boots. What stood out from her clothing was her name tag that everyone first year had been given, which read 'Laura Leo'.

Back down in the arena, Dust was looking at the three Atlesian machines, before looking back up to the platform where all the Professors were judging him from. "Okay, Okay, you can help me," Dust spoke again to himself, as the faint glow of his aura started to seep from his body again.

"I'll leave you the big one, okay?" Dust said, as if he was talking to a partner or someone like that. His aura that was seeping from his body now stopped seeping, raising a few browns from on lookers.

"Who is he talking to?" Van had questioned lightly so that no one could hear him speak. Despite this, a certain female with a horizontal scar across her face, heard his question before looking back to Dust on the field.

"Begin!" the Headmaster's voice boomed over the dirt field, starting the test.

Almost immediately, the two small, nimble Atlesian Knights took over charging towards Dust, who had the same idea, charging while he expanded his shield to its complete span. "A shield?" Stizza commented in question at Dust's weapon. "It's not as mean looking as Coke's. It's sleek, but yet rough" she commented.

"Hush Stizza, and watch" Falu scolded her sister like what a mother would do to their child, making Stizza whine a complaint before watching the fight.

Dust saw through his eyeshield to his first target. One of the two nimble Atlesian Knights had moved on ahead to engage in one on one combat. "So be it," Dust muttered, as he brought his shield over to his left side while holding it in his right hand.

Once he felt that he was ready Dust spun his body around to his right like a spinning top, releasing his shield in a throw with unnatural strength behind it.

"He threw his weapon!?" Hylia burst out loudly, utterly confused at the attack that Dust was doing, causing most members near her to look at the shield sailing through the air like a bullet.

The Atlesian Knight used its rifle to deflect the shield up high into the air, causing the machine to slide back from the force of the contact. Noting that the rifle was undamaged, the Atlesian Knight aimed to fire where Dust was before, but found him to be nowhere in sight.

Everyone in the first year who was looking at the weapon tried to find where Dust had gone, until one young lady had seen him. She stood at a height of about five feet and five inches tall, with light brown colored skin. Her eyes are a bright aqua blue, and shaped like a cat. Dark brown hair tied into a messy bun showed that she knew the implications of long hair during battle. In addition to her hair, her bangs are long and tucked behind her ear to match her messy bun. She has a very athletic body and a mole over her left ring finger.

This young lady was wearing her combat gear like the rest of the students, which consisted of a pair of dark brown high waisted jeans, a cream camisole, a dark brown half jacket and magenta sneakers. She also wore on top of her head a pair of steampunk style goggles which had her emblem, which is a bird made of lightning. Following her clothing was by a pair of gloves, a fanny pack, and her name badge that she wanted to get rid of, reading 'Maisie Latte'. Most of her colour choices were a mixture of pink, cream and brown. On her back she has a scabbard for her weapon, a mighty claymore, to rest in.

"Look! Above it!" Maisie yelled out to the other students, who moved their attention from the field to where the shield had been deflected to.

They all saw Dust had seemingly jumped high into the air to catch his weapon with his right hand, before flipping his body forward down towards the Atlesian Knight. The machine tried to raise his rifle up to fire at Dust, but it was too late as his shield had come down with enough force to tear body of the machine into two pieces.

"He was lucky," one of the professors, who looked to be a drill sergeant, scoffed as he continued to watch the fight take place.

As soon as the pieces of the first Atlesian Knight fell, Dust had quickly looked to his left before jumping back barely from a shot from the second knight. "Wow, that's a fast reaction," Falu said in amazement, who was keeping a keen eye on Dust.

"What a guy to conquer," Stizza said right after, prompting her sister to smack her up the back of her head. "I deserved that," she muttered, rubbing the back of her head where she had been hit.

Meanwhile, Dust landed a couple of meters away from the second knight, skidding across the dirt to a stop. Lifting his shield behind himself, he swung it with a good portion of the tip going through the dry dirt, causing a thick dust cloud to be formed around himself as cover.

The knight took its time to aim its rifle towards the dirt cloud with patience, aiming to shoot its target once it left the dirt cloud. This time it was Laura who sighted Dust, and she appropriately yelled, "Down below!".

Dust had shot out from the dirt cloud fast, and low to the ground to avoid attention long enough for him to close the gap. He thrusted his shield like he was giving the knight an uppercut with the shield, and the point made contact with the chest of the machine. The shield managed to pierce through the entire body stopping only when six inches of steel was sticking out the back of the machine.

"That young punk!" the drill Sergeant started to grind his teeth together at how Dust had taken out two Atlesian Knights with only a shield. "Let's see how he faces the Paladin!" he said to the other professors.

Meanwhile, Headmaster Stirling had a concentrated look on his face, as he was assessing Dust's fight. ' _Come on, young man, show me what you are made of,'_ he thought to himself.

Down on the arena floor, Dust had removed his shield from the body of the machine he had impaled. The motionless knight fell to the ground with a small thud, and Dust raised his shield so that the tip of his shield was pointing to the still Paladin.

"Your turn," Dust spoke to himself. As a small click sounded from his shield, a small cylinder exploded from its underside. In almost an instant the cylinder had struck its target, engulfing a portion of the machine in an explosion.

From the crowd of students, Van had kept an eye on Dust since he was interested in his new friend's fighting style. "His aura is showing again," he said as he watched Dust.

Dust, at that very moment, had his faint blue aura coating his body in a light mist fashion. "Alright partner, let me show you how it's done!" Dust called out to no one particular. His voice now sounded like two people that were intertwined with each other.

The top of the machine that had been hit by the explosive shot, caused it to lean back from the force. "Explosives?" Jennifer questioned as she saw the spectacle.

Immediately following the initial attack, Dust had almost disappeared once again, only to to be right below one of the legs of the Paladin. "Let's see how strong this machine is!" the intertwined voice of Dust yelled out.

Dust slammed the side of his shield against the right leg of the Paladin, cracking a portion of its first layer of armour. The Paladin retaliated by trying to kick the offending human away from it, but wound up only kicking air.

"This looks important," Dust mocked as he jumped onto the back of the Paladin like a spider, inspecting all the things the machine had to offer him. "Yankety, yank, yank, yank!" he said loudly as he started to pull multiple things off the back of the Paladin.

This caused the Paladin to stutter in it's movements before swinging wildly left to right in an attempt to remove Dust from its back. Dust let go and used the movements of the Paladin to create distance from it. He raised his shield to deflect bullets from the machine's counter attack.

A cloud of dirt started to form around Dust from the bullets ricocheting off his shield, making the Paladin stop its assault as it lost the targets sight. "Is he going to use the same tactic on this machine?" Falu asked herself, earning a groan from Stizza.

"Ugh, why does it matter if he does or not, Falu," Stizza watched the fight, enjoying the sight of Dust playing with the Paladin. Then, without warning, Stizza moved her head just before Falu could smack it once again. She taunted her sister, before crying out as she got smacked anyway.

"Thank you, Coke," Falu thanked her brother as she continued to watch the fight. Coke, on the other hand, had smacked the back of Stizza's head for Falu, earning a grunt from Mussell.

Back at the dust cloud, a sudden of volley of shots were fired from within the smoke, striking the Paladin. Some rounds exploded, while some did not. "Dud rounds?" Maisie questioned..

Dust used this chance to run in close, and he was going to use his shield to puncture the armour plates. He went straight for the torso piece, going to end it quickly, but he was met with an iron first to his left.

He skidded off to the right, sliding on his back away from the Paladin some distance before getting his legs back under him. "That idiot is going to get hit!" Laura said to herself, since Dust faced away from the Paladin, before an explosion erupted from the right iron fist of the Paladin and confused everyone watching.

Then, suddenly, explosions started to erupt along the holes that the 'dud' rounds, as Maisie had put it, had struck on the Paladin. All the explosions, along with the damage caused by Dust earlier on, caused the Paladin to collapse to the ground, unable to fight.

The siren sounded the closure of this fight, along with Dust's show. Looking back at the Paladin's body, Dust scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Oh boy, what did you do?" he said to himself.

Some of the first year students were a little bit surprised at the ability to take down a Paladin, even if it was an older model. The speakers came to life and announced, "Well done, young man. You have passed and may be dismissed," Headmaster Stirling said from his position with a smile on his face.

Dust, on the other hand, had only nodded in the general direction of Headmaster Stirling before taking his eyeshield off. If someone paid close attention to Dust's eyes, they would notice that they were both amber in colour before he blinked, returning them to an icy blue colour.

While he left the field, the students could hear a commotion over the speakers as the professors argued. They continued to bicker until it was suddenly cut off by a flurry of sharp curses, before Professor Acqua's voice came over the speakers. "Um, excuse me first year students, due to some damages to the lift system during that display, we will let other students take the alternative tests until the lift system becomes functional again."

Laura was proud to hear that she will not be running the silly gauntlet. She would have to remind herself to thank Dust later on for the change of events.

So began the few mock battles that took place for those lucky students who got to miss out on the Gauntlet. Some of the highlights that got people interested was Laura herself. She had completely decimated the combat drones that were assigned to her test, even using the drones that she defeated to beat the other machines. Laura even finished off by spinning a drone above her head like a top, before slamming it to the ground.

Another person to take on the training drones was a young lady who stood at five foot and six inches with a sleek and slender body with noticeable curves. Her long brown hair was tied into a single braid that reached down to her shoulder blades. Her green eyes during her combat session were focused on the opponents before her.

She wore her green knee length pants, with a waist length bright green robes. A red ceremonial looking sash tied around her waist keeping her robe from flapping about. She only had her feet and hands wrapped in cloth, not like all the other students who had shoes. Her name badge was worn on her robe with 'Emillia' written on it.

She had shown same fighting prowess as Dust, albeit with more restraint. She had no weapons beside her combat style, which was a form of hand to hand combat to combat. Her fight was a simple elimination match against the training drones.

As soon as the last drone fell to Emillia, the stadiums speakers burst to life once again. "Attention, attention. We would like to announce that the Gauntlet lifts are now operational once more," came the voice of Acquas.

A series of groans could be heard from the remaining first years that had yet to take their test, as the Gauntlet was being lifted into the stadium. "Now all remaining students will perform their tests on the Gauntlet," Acqua announced before the speakers cut out again.

As the day went on, more and more students were subjected to the gauntlet trial. An exhausted Hylia found herself walking with Jennifer as they discussed how their attempts at the gauntlet went. "Hylia here… have a drink, it's important to keep up your fluids," Jennifer softly says, while offering a warm cup of tea poured from the thermos that she kept on her at all times. The aroma from the beverage had a calming effect on her, since it was her favourite drink.

As the two continued to walk, something caught Hylia's attention. "Wow that small fry is rather nimble," A girl said out aloud. This girl stood five foot and seven inches, with pear shaped body and dark brown skin tone. Her legs were more defined and muscular than the rest of her body. She had medium length black hair that reached just under her chin in a curly bob style, as her plum coloured eyes continued to watch the person running through the gauntlet.

She was dressed in a burgundy high waisted flare skirt, a black scoop neck leotard, black woven gloves , black heels and a burgundy bowler hat. Attached to her clothing was a name tag that read 'Malakai Kamala'. Malakai had been commentating and discussing the people's performance as they ran gauntlet with the person next to her. Both didn't expect much from the crimsoned haired man who is currently running.

That person towered over Malakai at an height of five foot and eleven inches, with a skinny, small frame and medium sized 'assets'. She had blonde hair that fell to the bottom of neck which was dyed pink, and her jawline length bangs neatly framed her face. However, her most defining feature where pink coloured eyes, they similar in design to that of an eagle, which was the feature distinguishing the fact she was an eagle faunus.

She wore a pink blouse with matching knee length skirt and boots. Her outfit was topped off with bright red leggings, belt, cuffs and jacket. Like Malakai, she also wore a nametag which read 'Cerise Reisha'. The two girls were happily discussing the fact that the current runner hadn't drawn his weapons the entire run, opting to reply on a climbing pick of all things.

As Hylia overheard their conversation, she looked up at the big screen. What she saw made her heart beat really fast and her face feel rather hot. The sight was of Van having to make a leap of faith style jump and grab onto exposed cabling that hung from the ceiling to swing across a large gap. Clearly during his run, he was forced down a section of the gauntlet that still had some damage from Dust's actual attempt at it.

However, before she realised what had happened, she found herself standing somewhere rather bizarre. She was no longer standing the academy - or anywhere on Solitas, in fact. She found herself in a tropical jungle, standing on a wooden platform connected to a rather breathtaking treehouse. She noticed that she was wearing a bikini made from animal fur.

A pleasant breeze passed through the area as she caught a glimpse of something that made her heart race even more. It was the crimsoned hair man, wearing nothing but animal skinned trunks as he swung majestically through the jungle towards her. His face looked more defined and heroic as he gave her the most radiant smile she had ever seen. As he got closer and closer, she could see flowers,roses to be exact, manifest from his beauty.

Landing on the platform right next her, he beckoned, "My darling… you are looking more radiant everytime I look at you…. come… take my hand, and let's swing majestically through the jungle while the sun sets behind us," His voice was so smooth and dreamy that it made her melt. As he wrapped his arm around her waist causing her to let out a cute little scream.

Hylia looked him right in the face, her own face was red and felt hot to touch. "You can swing me whenever you want to," she softly says.

"Umm, excuse me? What did you say?" An unknown voice echoes throughout, causing reality to distort back to normal, leaving Hylia just staring dumbfoundedly at the two girls in front of her. Both Cerise and Malakai looked at each other and back at her with an extremely puzzled expression. Hylia's face turned a brighter shade of red as she struggled to think out of an retort.

Her brain was in panic mode, all logical functions had shut down, as two girls looked at Hylia with an worried looked. They could see smoke escape from her ears as she failed to compute what has happened, before burying her face deep into her hands. Malakai turned to Jennifer and asked, "Is she alright?"

"Hylia is fine, just embarrassed," Jennifer replied in her usual tone of voice, all while hearing Hylia mumble 'oh my god' over and over again.

However this panic mode of hers didn't last as she heard Cerise say something loudly. "WOW, look at that…. Van Rouge got into the top five fastest times for the day". This sparked another discussion which also brought Hylia's and Jennifers opinions into the mix.

The rest of the week went by rather fast, as all the students completed the gauntlet multiple times, though each time the course was different from the previous one. Some of these even had multiple people running at the same time, all competing for the best time. By the end of the week, everyone was showing sign of mental and physical fatigue. They all slowly marched back into the grand hall like zombies.

Once everyone had entered the place where they had originally been introduced to the Gauntlet, Professor Acqua appeared on the balcony that overlooked everyone from the second floor just like before. "Congratulations, everyone, for completing the first round of tests, now we shall commence the second round."

All the first years look at each other, confused at what Acqua had said. Said professor then clicked her fingers, and a screen behind her lit up to show a map of a forest. "There is a cabin for each team, that we the professors have assigned you to. Your teams have been made from the results of the Gauntlet, and there will be no changing teams unless authorised by the headmaster," Acqua explained, highlighting several random locations on the map.

"You will be dropped… off at random locations, then you will have to use the survival pack that we give you to reach the cabins, whose locations have been put into your new scrolls." She took a break before continuing, "Along the way you will come across care packages, whose locations have also been programmed into your will need to take them with, as they contain an item that will help bring some basic amenities online."

Students looked at each other feeling like it was not as bad as it looks, but then Aqcua had to say one more thing. "Now to make this fair, I expect you all not to resist this next step and remain calm," she said with a smile.

Once Acqua had finished speaking, it was as if that the academy hired robot ninjas. Atlesian Knights had thrown over the students reinforced hessian bags, before closing the opening. Gasps, cries, and profanities were heard as the robots started to drag the student filled hessian bags out of the hall. The one bag that held Coquelicot was more troubling than the others, as it took at least four knights to even remotely move the muscle bound teen.

Acqua watched the spectacle shaking her head, with her hand on her hips. "This happens every year…"


	4. Chapter 4

Hello Readers!

AvisB, and Quake here to present the new chapter for you. Sorry that it took this long for us to update. The past months had been quite busy for the bother of us, in are respected jobs. Well I know for me it has been hectic as managing a store has its ups and downs.

Although after battling the cursed writers block, and job block we have finished. I went through this chapter quickly with editing so I do apologise if there are many mistakes. Next chapter we will be going through soon.

Again Sorry about are tardiness with this chapter, please enjoy!

AvisB.

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 **Chapter Four: The Start of new teams**

It was in the early hours of the morning, the sun was barely rising over the snow top mountains. The rays of light spilling over the horizon as the time past, shining upon a squadron of Bullheads soaring through the sky covered with Atlassian markings. It was a bumpy ride due to the air turbulence for the first year students, long since been removed from their sacks and stuffed inside a small metal pod.

Inside each pod each student having their own backpack that was already inside their metal prison, giving the students something to do while they are waiting to arrive at their destination.

Dust had taken liberty to look inside his backpack, doing an inventory on what he had "Another Scroll, a real of fishing line, an axe, and set of clothing…" Dust paused as he inspected the clothing "How they heck did they know my size? Wait are these my clothes?!" he questioned himself wondering if the teachers had gone through their belongings.

Meanwhile in another metal pod Van, was resting his eyes as he waited. The teen had decided not to get worked up over something that he no control of, so he thought he may as well get some well deserved shut eye. Like everyone else, he was tired from the constant drills that the professors had put them throughout the week.

As time went by, the students that like to keep moving started to become restless inside the metal pods. Like Laura almost like a cat scratching at the door wanting to be let out, she mouthed off instead even though no one could hear her.

The students didn't mind being stuck in an enclosed space, found the time more relaxing than running another drill. Like Absinthe who was 5'9" tall lizard Faunus sporting broad shoulders along with his well endowed muscular stature. He has handsome jaw line that would put most men to shame if they tried to compete with him, his tail a trait of him being a Faunus was out of his backs way as he sat in his seat. He was naturally bold so no hair on his head to show, but this allows his green eyes do all the talking he does have tough scaly skin that has prove doctors a challenger to give him his shots whilst growing up.

He wore his combat better than most as he believed, showing his deep red muscle shirt, under his dark green vest while wearing dark green slacks to keep his lower half from showing. To protect his precious feet he wore oxblood loafers, while wearing red and green gloves to somewhat protect his hands. To top it all off he wore a dark green fedora with a deep red band on his head.

Absinthe was just playing with his guitar, tuning it before playing a melody or two. It was soothing for him, although he had a plan to sweep a girl of her feet with his music.

The pods themselves were located in the bellies of the bullheads that were soaring through the sky. As more and more students start the wake, the whitish glow that illuminated the cargo hold turned amber. Catching the attention of the students who have fully awakened by now and causing them to wonder what was going to happen next until the speaker crackled with life.

"Good Morning Student, this Headmaster Stirling" The Headmaster voice boomed over the speakers, greeting the students as they awoke from their slumber, earning an annoyed grunt from Munsell.

The Headmaster waited a brief period for rest of the students to wake up before continuing "As per tradition since I have taken the role of headmaster at this Academy, all students will be dropped from the Bullhead in their respected pods. These pods are designed to safely descend and land, but you could always pull the yellow and black lever on the roof if you want to open the exit earlier if you like" he said with more of emphasis on 'descend' making Gray raise a brow at the instructions.

"Once you have safely landed, you will use your gps scroll in your packs to find your partner that you will be with for the time at this academy. Once met with your partner, your gps scrolls will automatically guide you to designated cabin" The Headmaster told the students earning a tilt of the by Cerisa.

"The Cabin is where your team will be formed, and you will be able to bond over the next few weeks at this location. After that time you will be picked up by the Academy's transports" The speakers went quiet after the headmaster had finished his explanation.

"Have a nice fall!" another voice played from the speakers, it was Professor Acqua's voice and for some reason, she sounded unusually happy. As the neon glow that illuminated the inside of the pods started to fade, once again Van closed his eyes.

All the students groaned at the bad pun except Coke who had let out a burly chuckle before the excitement that they will finally find out who will be their partner had come to them. Although some students did not have long of a chance to think that long as they could as Jennifer could feel her pod move slowly.

"Oh what's going?" she looked around the interior of the pod noting a viewport that she could see out off. "Oh it's just turbulence" she saw the interior of the bullhead and breathed a sigh of relief "That is not so, BAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" She screamed as her pod was released from the bullhead feeling weightless inside the pod as it fell.

Meanwhile in Van's mind there was a sea of darkness with lights like a candle's flame scattered around, but every now and then one of those flames would move away. As he tried to determine the meaning of what he envisioned, a loud beeping noise broke his concentration. Opening his eyes he was greeted with more darkness. As that loud beeping stopped, he heard an mechanical sound of clamps being released.

Before he knew, the container he was in started to move…. The darkness disappeared, replaced with a blinding light as the view of sky covered his view. The pod that he is in was falling out the sky "OH SSHHHIIII…." Van cried out only to be drowned out by warning siren as the lights in the pod turned red and started to flash with the word error, plastered in big bold letters on the monitor in front of him.

Before he knew, the hatch to the pod blew off its hinges. The sudden change in pressure sucked van right out of the metal box, he managed to grab the hatch seal desperately trying to hang on he saw his weapons and his quiver. As his grip weakened rather quickly, he reached for his weapons. After Van barely managed to grab them as he lost his hold on the pod.

Now free falling through the sky quickly attached the quiver to backside of this belt and put on the sheath of his weapons. He had to think of something and rather quickly, looking around he saw similar pods however some had a parachutes deployed, others just plummeted towards the surface. After all of the contents of his pod had scattered into the sky around his pod.

Knowing that time was quickly running out for him, Van drew both of this swords and joined them together at the base of the hilt. With the pommels of each sword connected, a device appeared from the pommel of the right sword. It split into 2 sections, each travelling up the flat edge of each blade connected by a cable. The top half of the hilt on both swords, separated into segments, extending and curving upwards forming a shape of a recurve bow.

With his weapon firmly held into in left hand, he grabbed 3 arrows with his right hand. Each arrow had a unique tip that contains a dust crystal and a pin similar to a hand grenade. With no hesitation he drew the cable back with one of those arrows, his left index firmly wrapped around the pin of the arrowhead.

He released his grip in his right hand causing the arrow to shoot of towards the ground, after a short period that arrow start to release a greenish coloured mist. He quickly fired another arrow but these one release an orangey coloured mist that start to mix with one before. His final arrow glowed bright red as it soared through the sky, igniting the green mist which caused it to erupt into a massive fireball.

The fireball generated a strong updraft that dramatically slows his descent to the earth. As he passed through the fireball, it had slightly scorched his clothes in the process. The sight of land came up quickly, all he could do was close his eyes and wait for the impact. He managed to slow his fall to the point that his aura would save him upon impact. However it was going to hurt…. A lot and he knew that.

The Bullheads continued to drop their payload scattering the pods across the mountain side, making it more difficult for the remaining students to find one another. One pod had a student by the name Monsoon inside.

Monsoon stood at a tall height of six feet and eight inches which made him the second most troubling student to fit inside the pod compared to Coke who could barely fit inside because of his muscular build. Monsoon could nearly touch the roof of the pod with his head. He was not a block of muscle like Coke, but he had respectable muscular build, with a sun kissed complexion coming with a healthy tan.

He had wild grey hair that reaches to the middle of his back, with the fringe having an equally proportionate length. His eyes are a shade of candy.

Monsoon was wearing his usual attire of a pair of black skinny jeans, a studded leather belt keeping them safe on his hips, with a large golden skull for a buckle that had its shine. On top, he wore a skin tight gray tunic that was tucked into his pants. He also had on a large jacket with square shoulders on top with red with multiple gold trimmings on the shoulders and buttons which he kept unopened, it had a look that he just threw it on.

Slung to his side is a large scabbard for his weapon. Monsoons weapon is like a mix between an African Konda sword and a great sword, while being slightly bigger than both. It can almost be called just a slab on metal as it is extremely thick, and nearly unwieldy. Thankfully, Monsoon is strong enough to lug the weapon around.

The sword itself and split into two long swords, with barrels on the flat side of the blades. They are basically small cannons as they fire high calibre rounds. The gun part of the weapon is only used when absolutely necessary, however, as the ammunition for the weapon is expensive. The blade itself is nice silver, while colour the block of a cross guard, which holds the ammunition for the weapon, is black, along with the hilt.

He was one of the latest victims to be dropped from the bullhead. Monsoon's pod was heading directly down towards the waters of a large lake. "Come on, you stupid thing" Monsoon complained as he pulled on the lever of his pod trying to open the hatch "Let, me, out!" He said as he pulled the lever and the front panel of the pod shot out away from the pod.

He looked down to see the body of water of the lake, before looking to his right to see land "I am not getting wet today" he stated as he readied himself to leap over to the land from his pod. The pod deployed its parachute pulling on the pod, which had caused Monsoon to lose his balance sending him out of the pod into the water unceremoniously.

Somewhere on top the snowy slopes of the surrounding mountains, a tremendous thud was made as the pod that held Dust inside had hit the surface. From inside the pod he could see out of the viewport seeing that he had landed. "Another happy landing" he joked as he started to pull on the lever that would open up his pod, but a sound had played each time him tried to open the pod.

"Am I stuck?" Dust questioned to himself as he heard another sound, before vibrations inside his pod. Looking around the pod, the vibrations had gotten louder and louder until he was jerked inside his pod forward. The landing had caused a small avalanche that was pushing his pod down the slope like a toboggan.

"Oh for crying out loud…" he said clearly annoyed as a voice in his mind was giggling like a mad school girl "It's not funny" Dust said to himself as he placed on his visor, taking the backpack and axe before looking at the pods door "One and….Two!" he said before slamming his feet against the pods door, shearing it off from its hinges flying away.

Climbing out of the pods open section the avalanche slowly faded away as he saw that his pod slid still towards the edge of the mountain "Oh hell no!" Dust made his point clear that he wanted out of the pod. Jumping clear from the pod he rolled on the snowy surface to a stop. Dust looked up in time to see his pod careen off the mountains edge falling to the abyss.

"That was close…" Dust muttered before pulling out his new scroll as it beeped, the screen showing a map and an arrow pointing where to go. Taking his time he started to walk in the direction the scroll was showing him.

Elsewhere Gray was walking in the direction of the snowy mountain, long after all her descent which was no challenge for someone like her. She thought that she had heard a sound and looked to see something flying to her from above, and she took a few steps to her left before watching the spot she was standing in previously.

No sooner as she looked at her spot _'Thud'_ a door from one of the pods had embedded itself into the ground "Hmm…" she mused before continuing her march to find her partner on the scroll she was provided with. She looked down at the specialised app on the scroll in her hands, noticing that the compass arrow was point in the direction that the door came from.

Gray sighed as she started to walk in the direction that the arrow was pointing. She had a gut feeling that she wasn't going to like what she found find at the end of this trial. As she continued to walk a large booming sound echoed throughout, originating from the base of mountain. As it happened she pulled the hood of her coat down tightly and covered her ears. While waiting for the ringing to stop, she glared back at the base of mountain "What... The…. Hell…."

Down at the base of mountain, stood a man 5'8" tall with white hair that reached down to the base of his neck. The complexion of his skin was very pale to the point of almost being translucent. His joints were covered with opalescent scales, signifying that he was a Snake Faunus. He was dressed in a loose red wine coloured shirt with a black hoodie and a black jersey jacket over the top. With black drop crotch pants and black high top sneakers, he stood there trying to catch his breath.

As his red reptilian like eyes examined the surrounding. A vibrant glow full of warm colours resembling fire started to fade from his left hand as he used the large double bladed spear to keep himself upright. Around himself where the corpses of the Beowolves that he had slain, and the burning remains of his pod not too far. These Beowolves had more of a white coat than the standard black Beowolves, making them harder to spot in the snow covered ranges.

He landed right in the middle of the off a pack of Beowolves, he manage to get free with all the belongings from the pod and fend off the Grimm. However he accidentally detonated the pod in the process causing a loud boom to echo throughout.

"Wow….. Sooo shiny" A female voice appeared out of nowhere causing him to turn around. To see a female standing there holding a piece from the wreckage. She told 4'5" tall with thin and lithe build. Her hair was white and sat down to her shoulders. On her back was a pair of white wings that span 7 feet across which had a slight grey gradient at the tips of her wings.

She was dressed in a black open back top with grey highlights and black poncho with a similar design, a pair of grey sweat pants with fur boots. Normally she won't wear the poncho or the boots but considering where they are currently located she didn't really have much of a choice. On top of her sat a small hat, half black and half white. She also had a pair of bags that were strap to her sides by a grey belt which wraps around her hips twice.

After placing the shiny object back on the ground, knowing it was a bit too big to take along with her, she sighed before smiling again. Pulling out the scroll that the professors gave them, on the screen was an arrow pointing right at the man in front of him. "Looks like we are partners" she says with a giggle "I'm Minerva…. Minerva Blanc Noire"

"Zacharie Kinevart" He replies with a sigh and tying top half of his hair up into a bun while leaving his bangs to cover his eyes. He pulls the hood of his jacket onto his head, he turns to face Minerva who has notice that the arrow has changed in design and is now pointing in another direction. After confirming with his scroll was pointing in the same direction, "Shall we?" he gestures getting a happy nod from her.

The day kept on driving on to Frucsia's nerves, as the human who stood at five foot five and was walking along the snowy path. Her black heeled boots making the distincting clap sound with every step she took on the broken pathway. She had looked down at her hand that held her scroll compass that was guiding her, her lilac eyes glancing at the screen when her black hair that was done into a French braid slipped over her right shoulder. She brushed her black skirt with her free hand to rid some bit of snow that had fallen onto it. She was not overly affected by the cold as her long sleeved purple shirt, with her black jacket over the top helped her along with her purple tights that help keep the chill away from her legs.

"I hope that I can find my partner soon" She mumbled as she adjusted her backpack "The sooner the better, I do not want to be out here when a storm might hit" she added as she looked up at the weather. The weather was getting worse by the signs of the clouds, and the wind that was starting to pick. This was clear to those who have not lived in the mountains for long, unlike one individual who did.

Meanwhile some near the mountain side a panther Faunus was running for her life, as remnants of an avalanche had come down on her like a bat out of Hell. She was five feet and five inches tall, although you would not notice this while she was in a full sprint to save her own life at the current time. she ran well with her olive toned hourglass frame of a body, this could be shown that she was well fit with defining muscle features on her arms and legs. The long jet black hair of hers that are in dread locks fluttered past her shoulders in a ponytail with every stride she took.

"Shit! Shit!, Shit!" She breathed out as she took her name badge that on her black crop top that had her name ' _Navi_ ' written on it and threw it away from her "Dam that thing was annoying" she said as her amber eyes looked for a way out of this chase. Her jet Black Panther ears twitch at the sound of the tumbling avalanche getting closer to her. "Not today snow!" she yelled out as she jumped off one cliff face to another after throwing her backpack first.

Navi's landing could have gone better as she slipped on the snow and tumbled over until she stopped next to her backpack. The avalanche had been going in between the cliff's gap into the abyss below, giving her a sigh of relief as she stood. "Shoot I have snow everywhere" she complained as she started to brush snow off her clothes.

She brushed the snow off her black flats shoes, then her orange stocking socks, her black short and her article of clothing under her crop top. "When does an avalanche just appear out of nowhere?!" she said loudly being clearly annoyed at the event she just partook in.

She was about to rant again when a lob of snow from a tree branch fell on her comically covering her "Oh for F**k Sake!" she cursed out loud.

After walking down the mountain with his backpack on his back and the Axe holstered with it, Dust was being guided by his scroll "Well what's this?" he said as he saw a bunch of cabins that looked worse for wear.

Walking up to one Dust inspected the building seeing it needed a few repairs here and there, noting the fireplace through a window "Well that's what this axe is for" he said as he thought maybe firewood would be good to get through the cold night with a nice fire. He was going to continue further of his inspection when he heard a stick break behind him.

Turning around he was met with a hooded Gray with her scroll pointed towards Dust, Dust then looked down at his scroll was pointed towards Gray "Well this means we must be partners?" Dust spoke to her.

Gray shrugged her shoulders "I guess so" she replied back to him as both of their scroll's changed its compass to point to the cabin behind Dust "I guess that we are staying here for the next couple of weeks?" She inquired to Dust who opened the front door for her.

"Guess we are. Ladies first" Dust replied to her letting Gray inside first who gave a small chuckle.

"Such a gentleman" she commented as she walked inside the cabin followed by Dust who closed the door behind himself.

The pair had entered the area where they could see a fireplace, a couple of benches and a table. In the next room was a kitchen area, where there was a sink and a bench to prepare food, but no fridge so this means they have to harvest each day.

Dust turned the tap of the sink, and with no water coming from it "No water hmmm" Dust said as he looked out the kitchen window at the nearby stream thinking of an idea of how to get water.

As the sun start to head towards the horizon, Maisie was walking around in circles getting annoyed at the scroll in her hands. The arrow could keep pointing in the direction of some trees however every time she walked pass them, the arrow would flip and point in the direction she just came from. It was getting on her nerves since it didn't display elevation.

"Work dam it or so help me, I will make you into a toaster…" She stated looking through her bag to find some tools, when a bright light caught her attention. It came from a bag hanging on one of the higher branches. On her climb up to this point, she did pass some remnants of a pod scattered nearby. "I wonder who that belongs to?" Maisie wonders while double checking the direction the arrow is pointing.

After taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she starts to climb the tree. Eventually making to a point where she could reach out and grab the bag. However as she went to grab it, the branch she was standing on gave way causing her to scream as she fell. Hitting the ground and tumbling back down hill, Maisie groaned in pain as she came to a stop on top of a small mound.

"Ouch…. That hurt…." she sighed, staring at that tree like it was mocking her. As she went to get back up, she notice the mound started to move. Maisie quickly scampered away, with her hand firmly resting on the hilt of her claymore. She watched as a crimsoned haired boy raised up from the snow, with a dazed looked, he turned to face her. His eyes glow that eerie white for a split second.

"Where am I?" Van wondered as his eyes adjusted, he sounded very groggy.

"Are you ok?" Maisie responded as she walked over to check on Van, "What you were doing just lying on the ground covered in snow?" she asked, Van was clearly disorientated. "What do you remember?"

"What was I doing?" Van said while trying to stand, but failing the process only to have Maisie help him up. "The last thing I remember I was fa….. My gear!" Van response said snapping out of his daze as he searched for this weapon.

Finding his bow and turning it back into the twin swords and placing them into the sheath on his back. "Umm…. I think I know where it is" Maisie says getting his attention and pointing toward the tree she recently fell out of.

As they walked towards the tree, they talked with each other, the standard greetings and the like. Upon reaching the tree "And here we are….. Umm…. Van? Van... VAN!" She called out, looking around to see that van has disappeared. She kept looking around trying to find him until her attention was caught by some snow falling from the tree. Looking up she saw Van retrieving his bag "How…. did he get up there?" she wondered.

"Hey Maisie…. I think I can see something over there" Van says as he points over in same direction as the arrow on the scroll attached to his bag while hanging onto the trunk off the tree to get a better look

Meanwhile back at the cabin with Dust and Gray, the pair was still inspecting the kitchen. Gray noting the sink had a turn valve which was missing its wheel Gray pulled out an item from her backpack "Oh so this must go here" She said as she placed the wheel on the turn valve and gave it a turn with water not spouting out of the tap, before turning the tap off not wasting water.

"Well with have water, even though it's only cold water" Gray spoke out to Dust who he turned to her.

Dust looked at the fireplace from the kitchen "Well at least we have a fireplace to use to heat wate…" Dust stopped speaking as he heard something. This got Gray's attention as she too looked towards the same direction as Dust.

"Well hot dam! The next four years are going to be interesting!" An energetic voice from Laura was heard, as she walked through the cabin's front door with Navi following behind her.

"Hi!" An innocent greeting came from the Panther Faunus as she laughed afterwards noticing Dust and Gray that was here. "Guess we are a team now" she added as she shut the door behind herself.

Gray felt a little uncomfortable that she had to partner up with a couple of the most energetic girls of the first years had. Although she was glad that they were Faunus, not that Dust was a bad person for being human, it is that he was one of the few that she had made friends with at the school.

Meanwhile Dust had a different notion as he noted his team members, with his right eye giving a twitch here and there _"Oh god not again"_ He thought before he could hear someone snickering in his mind _"Not… A… Word… Flairess… Not a damn word!"_ He thought as the snicker in his mind turned into a full feminine laugh.


End file.
